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ARP 2011 “Lochindorb Castle: there’s something in the water…” by Iain Anderson, RCAHMS

Lecture by Iain Anderson, RCAHMS, on the survey and interpretation of Lochindorb Castle and its wider context.

“Lochindorb Castle” a short lecture by Iain Anderson, RCAHMS, at the Archaeological Research in Progress (ARP 2011) national day conference on Saturday 28th May 2011 at the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

The photographic and measured survey of Lochindorb Castle (NH93NE 1) was completed in the spring of 2010, enabling the two main phases to be outlined at both ground and first floor level, and profiles across the site to be compiled. An outwork was found to have been added to the primary castle of enclosure in the 14th century. It is now clear that the primary great hall and chamber were built in timber against the west or back wall of the castle in the 13th century, to be replaced in the 14th century by a stone-walled hall in the newly enclosed space between the inner and outer curtains. The chamber block in this new arrangement appears to have been the first floor of the primary range of stone buildings along the east curtain over the original entrance. This change is indicated by the conversion of the garderobe beside the SE tower to a passage. The gothic arch of the gate in the outer curtain has a shallow profile that suggests a 14th-century date and bears comparison with the first-floor hall at Rait Castle. That this gate is so close to the shore suggests there may once have been a jetty here. The gate was defended by a portcullis and a covered passage suggesting a gate tower over the entrance.